Whispers around NFL that Roseman is in over his head

A couple of years ago, while trying to make some moves as a first-year general manager, there was a report by Michael Silver of Yahoo! Sports on the general perception of Philadelphia Eagles general manager Howie Roseman. While trying to move Donovan McNabb, Silver said was viewed as “a shakedown artist” whom other team’s executives were quick to ignore when 215 came up on their cell phone.

Now, the Eagles have jettisoned Andy Reid and salary capologist Joe Banner. Both were blamed for varying problems at this time or that (and probably rightfully so). The last man standing of the previous regime is Roseman, who now has no one to blame but himself at this point for organizational failures from him on down.

And the early polling isn’t good.

Jason La Canfora says he’s talked to a variety of people around the league and there is a growing perception that Howie is “woefully out of his depth.” He writes:

I wish I had a dollar for every time someone told me one esteemed coach or another advised one of the Eagles’ top candidates not to take the job precisely because of Roseman’s presence there. Roseman isn’t the general manager they should tie their wagon to. It’s clear Chip Kelly wasn’t leaving Oregon for anywhere unless he had a large measure of control over the organization, and owner Jeffrey Lurie has already entrusted that to Roseman. There has been trepidation by some candidates to go all-in given the questions about this existing power structure.

The rumblings about Roseman lacking nuance and foresight, about him turning people off with how drunk with power he’s become, only grow louder as his coaching search grows stranger.

Do I know who La Canfora has spoken to? Nope. Do certain people plant different things to manipulate the media and the conversation? All the time. But, my gut says there is some truth to this as I’m just not very confident in Roseman’s ability to do the job of general manager. I don’t believe Jeffrey Lurie when he said that this 2012 draft (viewed very favorably by most) was Howie’s work.

I’ll say I’m not a believer in Roseman, but I’ll stand corrected if he can prove me wrong. So far, I’m not feeling it.